LOBA

What LOBA does

LOBA, operating through Lobarealty Sociedade Unipessoal LDA, is a Portuguese real estate agency and marketplace founded in 2015 by Sandra Viana. The company runs two interconnected products: a House Hunting Service providing personalized buyer-side representation with a single consultant handling search, evaluation, negotiation, and contract execution, and LOBA Selection, a curated web marketplace of 160+ properties for sale and rent. LOBA operates under Portugal's AMI Real Estate License 12061, holds €150,000 civil liability insurance with AGEAS Portugal, and is GDPR-compliant.

The platform integrates smart contract technology to automate referral reward distribution — when a deal closes, 25% of the buyer-paid commission flows to the referrer and 75% to LOBA, formalized on-chain rather than through informal handshake arrangements. DocuSign is used for contract execution. Core technology is a web-based marketplace; there is no native mobile app. The business targets home buyers, renters, sellers, and landlords primarily in Lisbon and Porto, with the curated marketplace extending listings to surrounding municipalities including Oeiras, Cascais, Almada, and Mafra. International clients in Hong Kong, Belgium, France, and England appear in the testimonial base, indicating inbound cross-border demand.

LOBA monetizes through three streams: (1) buyer/tenant-paid transaction commissions (2.5% of sale price with a €6,000 + VAT floor for sales; 1 month's rent with a €1,000 + VAT floor for rentals), in a reversed model where the property owner pays nothing; (2) hourly independent consulting and advisory for investors and developers; and (3) referral rewards, which are a 25% cost-share of the buyer-paid commission rather than a separate revenue stream. The company is founder-controlled with no disclosed institutional investment, no funding rounds, no subsidiaries, and 12 total employees, with headquarters at LEAP Center in Lisbon and a secondary presence in Caldas da Rainha.

Name

LOBA

Legal name

LOBAREALTY, Sociedade Unipessoal, LDA.

Website

https://loba.house

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

LOBA is a Portuguese real estate agency and curated marketplace founded in 2015, providing personalized house hunting services and a curated property platform for buyers, sellers, and tenants primarily in Lisbon and Porto under a buyer-paid commission model with smart contract-based referral rewards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Brokerage & Marketplace

NAICS

Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121), Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (5312)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Auction Services (FSAEAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Eminent Domain / Condemnation & Litigation Support Valuation (BPAJAKAJ)

Keywords

• Real estate marketplace
• House hunting services
• Buyer representation
• Property referral platform
• Real estate advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Buyer's Commission (House Hunting & Selection): LOBA charges the buyer (or tenant) a success fee upon deal completion. For sales: 2.5% of the final sale price, with a minimum of €6,000 + VAT. For rentals: 1 month's rent, with a minimum of €1,000 + VAT. This is a transaction-based success fee model where the fee is separated from the property price for transparency and tax efficiency.
2. Referral Rewards (Smart Contract Distribution): LOBA shares 25% of the buyer-paid commission with referrers who successfully connect a qualified buyer/tenant to a property listed on the LOBA Selection platform. Rewards are distributed automatically via smart contract upon deal closure.
3. Advisory / Consulting Services: LOBA offers paid hourly real estate advisory and consulting services to buyers, sellers, and investors, providing independent market intelligence and decision support distinct from brokerage mediation.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

LOBA operates a curated online property marketplace (LOBA Selection) where third-party property owners list properties for free, and provides a personalized house hunting/buyer's agent service in Portugal. The company uses a reversed commission model where the buyer or tenant pays a fixed success fee (2.5% of sale price or one month's rent for rentals), eliminating the conflict of interest of traditional listing agents. Referral rewards of 25% of the commission are distributed automatically to referrers via blockchain smart contracts upon deal closure.

Product overview

LOBA operates as a tech-enabled real estate marketplace with two interconnected core products: the House Hunting Service and LOBA Selection marketplace. The House Hunting Service is an exclusive buyer-agent model where LOBA searches, evaluates, and negotiates properties on behalf of clients (buyers, renters, or investors), with fixed commissions paid by the buyer. LOBA Selection is a curated property marketplace where owners list properties for free, and LOBA charges a 2.5% success fee only upon transaction completion. Additional services include Independent Consulting (hourly advisory) and Real Estate Management Support for investment properties. The platform uniquely incentivizes peer referrals through smart contract-based reward distribution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• House Hunting Service LOBA's flagship personalized buyer-agent service: consultants search, identify, and evaluate properties on behalf of individual buyers, renters, or investors in Portugal (primarily Lisbon and Porto). Provides a single interlocutor throughout property search, evaluation, negotiation, contract, and legal documentation. Commission is fixed and paid by the buyer/tenant rather than the property owner, with access to off-market properties via a network built since 2015.
• LOBA Selection (Curated Property Marketplace) A curated online property marketplace where third-party property owners submit listings for free and buyers/tenants browse, filter, and inquire about properties for sale or rent across Portugal. LOBA charges a 2.5% success fee only when transactions close, and incentivizes peer referrals by sharing 25% of the commission with anyone who refers a qualified buyer. The platform features both public listings and private access links for discreet property promotion.
• Independent Consulting Hourly real estate advisory service provided by LOBA to buyers, sellers, and investors, distinct from brokerage mediation. Provides independent advice on property decisions, market analysis, and strategic guidance without requiring full service engagement or property listing.
• Real Estate Management Support

Quantifiable outcome

• Properties can be sold or rented faster through the LOBA Selection curated marketplace combined with a network of referrers incentivized by commission rewards
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Purplebricks: Hybrid/discount brokerage model in the UK and other markets targeting fixed-fee and buyer-friendly pricing. Comparable in philosophy (transparent pricing, technology-enabled service) but operates at much larger scale and across different geographies.
• Engel & Völkers: Global luxury real estate brokerage with a Portuguese presence that competes for premium buyer mandates and mandates in Lisbon/Porto. Comparable in serving the same high-end buyer demographic, though structured around seller-paid commissions via franchisees.
• Compass: Tech-enabled US real estate brokerage that popularized the modern buyer-agent narrative and platform-style brokerage at venture scale. Useful comp for the longer-term scaled version of LOBA's model, though operating in a substantially different geography and scale.
• RE/MAX Portugal: Global franchise network with significant share of Portuguese residential transactions. Provides an alternative for both buyers and sellers across all price points; competes with LOBA Selection on inventory depth, though at a fundamentally different scale and commission structure.
• IAD (IAD Portugal): European digital-first real estate network (originating in France) expanding in Portugal with a low-fixed-cost MLM-style agent model. Competes on agent network and digital efficiency; comparable to LOBA in challenging traditional agency economics but at much larger scale.
• Sotheby's International Realty: International luxury real estate brokerage with affiliates covering Portugal. Competes at the upper end of the Lisbon/Porto market where LOBA also advises international buyers; differentiated by global brand strength versus LOBA's local boutique positioning.

Direct peers

• Idealista: Iberia's leading online real estate marketplace with strong Portugal (and Spain) presence. LOBA's curated LOBA Selection marketplace competes for both buyer traffic and seller/owner listings against Idealista's dominant platform, though LOBA adds the fixed buyer-paid success fee and house-hunting services.
• Imovirtual: Major Portuguese real estate listings portal where buyers, sellers, and agents transact property. Comparable to LOBA on the marketplace/inventory discovery side, though Imovirtual is portal-only and does not offer house-hunting services or the buyer-paid commission model.

Emerging players

• Casafari: Iberia-focused real estate data intelligence platform aggregating listings and providing market analytics to agents and investors. Comparable to LOBA on the data-driven valuation and advisory side that underpins LOBA's consulting offering, with broader coverage across Portugal and Spain.
• Properstar: International real estate marketplace focusing on cross-border property transactions, with active coverage of Portugal. Comparable to LOBA in serving international buyers seeking Portuguese property, but operates as a portal-plus rather than a buyer's-agent model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/loba-house-hunting

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LOBA